GRADUATE PROGRAM MISSION:
The graduate program mission of the department is to provide doctoral education second to none in our three areas of specialization: Interpersonal Communication & Relationships, Media Studies, and Rhetoric and Discourse. We seek to provide national and international leadership in research and knowledge dissemination in our collective research specialties. The specialties cohere in their study of communication as a social practice, focusing on the role of human communication processes in the construction, maintenance, reinforcement, and reformation of various aspects of social, professional, and institutional life.